WTO round of negotiations achievements and failure

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Transcript of WTO round of negotiations achievements and failure

WTO round of negotiationsachievements and failure

Achivements vs Failures2 EXAMPLESDOHA ROUND Process and ImpassWTOWTO SUCCESSNON - trade barriers;Encouraged sustainable and trade development;A single set of rules applying to all members;Governments take a more balanced view of trade policy;Supervises 95% of the world trade;NON-discrimination between countries.WTO FAILURES AND CRITICSRich countries are able to maintain high import duties and quotas in certain products, blocking imports from developing countries ;Anti-dumping measures allowed against developing countries;High protection of agriculture in developed countries while developing ones are pressed to open their market; Developing countries do not have the capacity to follow the negotiations;Seeking to privatize essential public services such as education, health care, energy and water;Free trade is not working for the majority of the world. WTO rules have hastened these trends by opening up countries to foreign investment and making it easier for production to go where the labor is cheapest and most easily exploited and environmental costs are low.;WTO takes too long to arbitrate and settle disputes - it can take over five years from the initial receipt of a complaint from one member to the final panel ruling.ConclusionThe WTO trumps all other international agreements.The WTO must be scaled back so that the human rights, environmental, labor and other multilaterally agreed public interest standards already enshrined in various international treaties can serve as a floor of conduct for corporations seeking the benefits of global trade rules.Uruguay round brief introduction The Uruguay RoundThe Uruguay RoundSetbacksDisagreement over the special safeguard mechanism (SSM)

Main negotiating parties refused to budge

Market Access Disputes

Agricultural subsidiesCorresponding Impacts

Rapid development of FTA and RTA MFN LFN relatively Spaghetti bowl effectLoss of huge potential benefitsThe importance of reopening negotiations & the key to the successCASE 1What China achieved after joined WTO?

CASE 2India, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand vs USThis was the largest trade negotiation at the time that started in 1986, involving 123 countries covering basically every issue ranging from genes of white rice to AIDS treatment.Concessions on market access for tropical productsTrade policies review mechanism adoptedStreamlined the dispute settlement system

Early gainsAchievementsIn 1992 the US and EU solved most of their disagreements in agriculture in what was known as the Blair House AccordBy 1993 every issue had been resolvedIn 1994 a deal was signed by most ministers in MoroccoServices, intellectual property and creation of WHO where achievedThe World Trade Organization (WTO) is the most powerful legislative and judicial body in the world.By promoting the free trade agenda of multinational corporations above the interests of local communities, working families, and the environment, the WTO has systematically undermined democracy around the world. The WTO's authority even eclipses national governments. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The Uruguay RoundWTOForeign direct investmentImport and exportWTO allows us to have a legal and equal international trade marketState foreign exchange reservesChina vs European CommissionGDP2001 : 1,32 trillion2011 : 7,3 trillion2001 : 0.24 trillion2011 : 3.18 trillion2001 : 509.7 billion2011 : 3.64 trillion2001: 47 billion 2011: 166 billionNovember 9th 2007, the European Commission initiated an anti-dumping probe into Chinese made screws and bolts.January 2009, the EC imposed anti-dumping duties between 26.5% and 85%, on all non-steel fasteners from China for a period of five years.July 31 2009, China requested consultations at the dispute settlement body of the WTO with the European Commission (EC) regarding definitive anti-dumping duties.On Oct. 23 2009, the WTO set up an expert panel to hear both sides of the case. On December 3, 2010 the WTO released a verdict that supported China’s position, stating that a separate tax rate for fastener anti-dumping measures are discriminatory and violate global commerce rules.On July 15, 2011, the WTO issued a final ruling, concluding that section 5, Article 9 of the EU Anti-dumping Law against China was in violation of WTO rules. The panel has found that the EU discriminates against Chinese exporters compared to exporters from other countries.

Following the WTO ruling, in March 2012 the EU announced it would reexamine 52 anti-dumping measures against products from China.

European CommissionThe imports cause material damage to domestic firms.China:The EC could not prove injury because Chinese fasteners, most of which are of the cheap, low-end variety, do not compete with high-end European-made fasteners used in the auto and aviation industry.The duties are in violation of international trade laws and the EC must “promptly withdraw rules and measures that have been imposed, and cease the disturbance to Sino-EC trade and impairment of China's interests.” In 1989, USA enacted Section 609 of Public Law which encouraged bilateral and multilateral negotiations for the protection and conservation of sea turtles with governments engaged in commercial fishing operations likely to have a negative impact on sea turtles.In 1996, Revised Guidelines to S. 609 were passed which stipulated that all shipments of shrimp and shrimp products into USA were to be accompanied by a declaration attesting that the shrimp had been harvested “either under conditions that do not adversely affect turtles or in waters subject to the jurisdiction of a certified nation. In October 1996, the above embargo was extended to apply to all shrimp and shrimp products harvested in the wild by citizens or vessels of nations which had not been certified.

Panel conclusionPakistan on 30 Jan 1997.India on 25 Feb 1997.The issue in dispute was not the urgency of protection of sea turtles, or the desirability or necessity of the environmental objectives of the US policy on sea turtle conservation. Members are free to set their own environmental objectives but they are bound to interpret those objectives in such a way that is consistent with their WTO obligations, not depriving the WTO Agreement of its object and purpose.

DisagreementsWhat do YOU think about WTOFailure to agree on agricultural sector let to extension of the talks beyond 1990